Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Skip the take-out and try this super easy, lightened-up creamy butter chicken right in the crockpot – it’s less calories and tastes a million times better!

When Jason and I lived in LA, we had Indian take-out at least once a week. It was our regular joint out in Beverly Hills, and I would always pick up two tikka masala bowls on my way home from work. But ever since we relocated out to the Bay Area, we haven’t had our Indian take-out fix in so long. My cravings have taken over for weeks so I finally made this butter chicken right at home, and boy, am I glad I did because the homemade version is so much better, and healthier, than take-out!

If you’ve never had butter chicken, it’s a very popular Indian dish, and can be made mild or spicy to taste. I kept the recipe very mild but the heat seekers can certainly add more chili powder, to taste.

Now this is a super simple crockpot dish. There is a little bit of sauteeing but you’re pretty much throwing all the ingredients into a saucepan before throwing it into the slow cooker. Easy peasy, right? From there, you can let that cook low and slow for 5 hours, leaving you to come home to the most fragrant, most flavorful and creamy butter chicken.

Best of all, it’s lightened up with coconut milk and whole wheat flour, saving you on a ton of calories this spring season!

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours, 5 minutes

Total Time 5 hours, 15 minutes

Yield 6 servings

Skip the take-out and try this super easy, lightened-up creamy butter chicken right in the crockpot - it's less calories and tastes a million times better!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, diced

1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more, to taste

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, tomato paste, flour, garam masala, curry powder, chili powder and ginger powder until well combined and slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place chicken into a slow cooker. Add sauce mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours.

You can get garam masala in bulk at Whole Foods super inexpensively. It’s probably available in bulk at most, if not all, health food stores. It’s also in the spice aisle at most grocery stores, but it’s more expensive.

I Ran out of coconut milk and had to make this with milk. The consistency was fine, but it did lack that yummy coconut flavor and sweetness that I think this dish needs. I added a big spoonful of coconut oil and a couple pinches of brown sugar, which really helped…but it still wasn’t quite the same. I would do it again in an ‘emergency’, but otherwise recommend sticking to the coconut milk.

Were you reading my mind? Doing the same thing today; maybe not so lightened up but after I tried sesame chicken in the crockpot I can’t see why this wouldn’t be equally wonderful. Your photos are lovely and I want it NOW!!

Hmm, looks yummy. I have my own beloved recipe for slow cooker butter chicken and I even make my own garam masala. I don’t make it very often though. We recently (don’t tell) opened a jar of butter chicken sauce to use with leftover chicken and it was pretty good, too, for a shortcut recipe and, of course, it had a higher fat and sodium content than I like to use.

Hi! I wanted to try this recipe originally but plans have changed for the day and I have two jars of butter chicken sauce on hand. Not a fan of all the extra sodium etc but it will save me some time. Did your jarred attempt turn out ok?

Love the look of this – butter chicken is my fav but I hate not knowing what restaurants/take aways put in their recipes – this is WAY better than take out! Add a bit of naan and you have your own indian restaurant at home

Since coming to London, butter chicken has been one of my favorites to order at Indian restaurants, and I’ve been worried about what I’m going to do when I crave it back home. Well…here’s the answer! Pinning this, and I know I’m going to be making it, and loving it!

This seems so easy! I love cooking either in the slow cooker or my thermal pot. Just makes things a little less hectic and keeps me less frazzled. LOL. I’ll have to try it with thighs as I find them more flavourful. Lovely idea!

Am making it right now in my crock pot. It smells great. Looking forward to tonight’s dinner. By the way the jalapeño corn dip was a true success yesterday. We had an early St. Paddy’s celebration and brough it to my friend’s home last night. xxx Carmen

I have this recipe in the crock pot as I write this. When I was putting the sauce together, I wondered if the chili powder you use in the recipe is actually cayenne pepper powder? Or is is the traditional spice labelled “Chili Powder” that is found at the local grocery store? I have some friends from India and they told me “Chili Powder” in India is actually “Cayenne.” I used American Chili Powder, but I wondered which you recommend? Thanks.

Unfortunately, Millie, I cannot really answer this question with certainty as I have not frozen this myself. That being said, I don’t think there is a need to change anything in the recipe to freeze it. I do recommend freezing in individual servings, thawing overnight, and heating over stovetop. Hope that helps!

I have made 3 of your recipes this week and they have all been keepers! When I turned off the slow cooker today I wasn’t impressed with the consistency or flavor of the chicken. Went to yoga and BAM, the chicken absorbed some of the sauce and the consistency is now perfect. Thanks!

Thanks for this recipe! It’s probably my favorite Indian dish. Do you know if there is a measurement difference between curry powder and paste. I prefer paste and usually have it on hand. Also, what would I substitute to make it non lightened-up? Just the flour and coconut milk?

Thanks for the recipe. I did it today and for some reason I did not get a juicy meat. It is tender but did not take in the flavor of the sauce. I followed the recipe and sauce is very yummy but the meat is another story :-(. I am new to slow cooking so want to understand what went wrong. I used cut chicken breast and the slow cooker that I am using is Instant Pot. Any suggestions?

Hi from Australia had this for dinner, very delicious. I used a mix of chicken thighs & breasts cos i have them in the freezer. Also prepared the sauce the night before and marinade the chicken pieces with it & dump them into the slow cooker the next day. We like our butter chicken sweet so I added some sugar and it was perfect!! Thank you!

I’ve been looking for a butter chicken recipe, thank you!! The only thing is, I don’t have a slow cooker. Do you think it’s possible to make this in a cast iron pot and let it simmer with the closed lid for about an hour? That’s what I usually do with slow cooker recipes.

Kayla, you can certainly substitute paste but unfortunately, I cannot speak for how much this will change the taste/texture of the overall dish. It is best to use the ingredients listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible.

Unfortunately, I have never tried using cornstarch in place of wheat flour. Please use your best judgment for substitutions as I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish.

You can certainly substitute coconut flour but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. It is always best to use the ingredients listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible.

Made this tonight with a side of spicy pineapple and an Indian-spiced cauliflower also found on Pinterest. WHOAH! What a great meal! Your chicken recipe has made my entire house smell amazing all day long. Recipe was very easy to put together and THE TASTE is just perfect. Thank you for sharing! It’s a keeper in our home.

I made this recipe last night and even when I added more spice and salt, it just tasted like tomato sauce. I think 1 16oz can of tomato paste is way too much. Maybe go down to half? Or just 2 tbsp? Just a thought

I love your recipes and have made quite a few of them; however, I wanted to say that it would be REALLY helpful if you would tell us how many chicken breasts instead of how many pounds. I have no idea how many breasts are in 3 lbs. Thanks.

Scarlett, the weight of each chicken Breast can vary tremendously so even though I can say 1 chicken breast, you can be using twice as much chicken breast than what the recipe calls for. It its best for me to list them in weight to be as accurate as possible. Additionally, the weight should be listed on your package of chicken for your reference.

And just heads up to my fellow ‘novice’ cooks. I would suggest mixing all your dry ingredients together before dumping into the coconut milk. I had a ton of small flower balls floating around the sauce. I couldn’t wisk hard enough to dissolve them. Rather than risk it I put the sauce into my vitamix to smooth it out before putting over the chicken in the crock pot. But that sauce is TO DIE FOR!!! Can’t wait to share it with my husband tonight.

I just made this, and I’m in heaven! I’ve been using cream or milk in the past, but the consistency and taste were never as good as restaurants. UNTIL NOW! Who knew the secret was coconut milk! This is officially my most favorite butter chicken recipe EVER.

I also made an excess amount to use to make Paneer Makhani (Which is the vegetarian equivalent) and it worked fantastically. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I love Indian cuisine & this was very delicious. Thanks for sharing it! The second time I made this I tried to make it a spicy version by adding a little extra chili powder. It really wasn’t that much spicer. I used regular Mexican chili powder. What would you recommend to kick it up a bit without sacrificing the amazing flavor of your Butter Chicken?

I’m going to try this! FYI, garam masala isn’t a spice, it’s a mixture of a bunch of well-known spices. Google how to make your own. :). Also, Butter Chicken never originally had any butter in it. It was created in India by a man who just liked the name. True story!

I am so happy I came across this recipie . I made this three times and it is absolutely amazing. I made my own gram masala mix. I just googled how to mix gram masala and It was very easy and I had all spices handy. Tnx for sharing this recipie

Wanted to let you know that a friend of mine brought this dish into work the other day and I liked it so much I asked her for the recipe. She sent me your link and upon reading the instructions I noticed a small type-o that I thought you’d like to know about. In the Instructions you have “tomato pasta” and not “tomato paste” listed. Not that anyone would make this mistake and suddenly add pasta to this dish instead of tomato paste, lol. I thought you’d like to know regardless. Anyway, looking forward to making this for dinner this week!

I don’t have time to make this in the slow cooker. Do you have any recommendations on doing this recipe on the stove top? I was thinking that I could cook up the sauce first and then put the chicken pieces in, cover and let cook/simmer on the stove (medium low) for 2 to 2.5 hours?

Please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a slow cooker recipe to be made on the stovetop without further recipe testing. I recommend using your best judgement to convert this recipe be made without a slow cooker.

Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot say for sure how this will turn out if the flour is omitted. Please use your best judgment to use the appropriate substitutions to fit your dietary restrictions.

I love the simplicity of the recipe. Esp with 2 kids to feed & the tediousness of trying to figure out what new dishes I can create to interest them at every meal! But, I have a question….Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours? 5 hours on simmer? Is that a typo?

Hi, Could you tell me what brand of chili powder you use? Is this chili powder like you would add to Tex-Mex chili, or chili powder you would find at an Indian grocery store? I have the latter, and I think it’s just ground up chilis, but I’m not really sure –it’s very different than McCormick’s chili powder though.

Hi! I will definitely be trying this recipe this week! Question for you: are you using american chili powder or Indian chili powder? I know american chili powder has more spices rather than being mostly ground chilis in the Indian version. Thanks for taking the time to help me out

Made this and although it smelled great I gotta say it was super bland. My husband and I both love Indian food but this was very under seasoned. We tossed the left overs and hubby asked that I don’t make it again. That being said, I’ve never had butter chicken so maybe the mild flavor s how it’s supposed to taste. I’ll stick to my aloo gobhi next time

I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.

So I must ask – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?

This recipe is a staple in my house. So much flavour and so easy to make. I have made with both carton coconut milk, and canned. Canned always turns out better. I use Indian chili spice, so I cut back on the amount quite a bit. This recipe is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing

Ever since I discovered your website, I’ve been madly cooking from your recipes. Just LOVE them. And finding this one for the slow cooker? Well that another love story all it’s own. I made this for dinner last night… didn’t have chilli powder but substituted some cayenne and it worked just fine !!! I had it in for 4 hrs and it was just right. Great texture for the meat and the sauce pulled together nicely with the addition of the flour ! Thanks you, Chungah for all the super ideas!!! Cheers

Hello from Canada! I made this recipe today, and my apartment is smelling wonderful! The consistency of the sauce really is butter chicken! Thank you for this easy recipe, great for students like me. Can’t wait to try out your other recipes!